Little steel gray egg looking things - algae?

[sighthoundlover]

I have a 75 gallon tank with a royal gramma, an ocellaris, a cleaner shrimp, a sea cucumber and live rock and I have these things that look like little steel gray eggs clumped together on the rock :? . A friend at my LFS said they were some sort of algae. At first there was only one clump but now there are six or seven in various locations on the rock. Can someone tell me what this is and if it is algae, the exact kind of algae so I can look it up. Also, the tank and its inhabitants all look great. I have macro algae growing and all the live rock is covered in coraline algae and fan worms. I'm just not sure if these little gray guys are a good thing or not. Would appreciate being educated.

 

[Anonymous]

Without a pic it would be impossible to say for certain. From the description my guess at the moment would be some species of Valonia, possibly V. macrophysa. Yes, it's a troublesome type.

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[JD]

Yup, most certaily a common form of Valonia. Manual removal in the begining stages is best for control. Good luck!

 

[sighthoundlover]

That's what it is! Thanks guys! I read a lot of different ways to take care of the problem - emerald green crabs, sailfin tangs, etc. but decided the fastest and most reliable way to get rid of it was to pick it out by hand - which I did. I got most of it anyway .

 

[acasden]

i have 4 of them in a group, slightly increasing in size over past 6 months, they look like round eggs like you said, if they are not spreading or growing fast why remove them??

 

[sighthoundlover]

Well, I think mine are Dictyospheria. The description is that they "form mats of small bubbles in a tight vicinity of each other in an irregular pattern and their growth follows the shape of the live rock or item they are growing on. Fast growing, these rough bubble species can cover rocks, prevent corals from attaching and may even overtake coral growths".
I don't have corals actually, but thought it might interfere with my coraline algae. It was termed a nuisance algae so I thought the best thing to do was get rid of it.

 

[Anonymous]

i have 4 of them in a group, slightly increasing in size over past 6 months, they look like round eggs like you said, if they are not spreading or growing fast why remove them??

They can often spread and cover much of your rock if conditions suit them.